In Western society, the hanging of framed decorations such as photographs, paintings, prints, diplomas and the like is virtually a universal practice in homes and offices. All manner of pieces of paper and similar planar materials are placed in frames and hung on walls. Thus, as used in this specification, references to pictures, picture frames, and the like should be understood to include virtually any framed piece of planar material, and generally can refer to any form of apparatus which is mounted to be hung in a manner similar to the way that pictures are commonly hung.
The most common method for hanging pictures is to place a pair of screw eyes or some form of binding posts, on opposite sides of the back of the picture frame. A piece of wire, normally braided, is then securely attached to each of the screw eyes. When the picture is to be hung, some form of hook, nail or other appliance is attached to the wall, over or through which the above-mentioned wire is placed. Thus, the basic method of hanging framed pictures is quite simple.
Tasteful and attractive hanging of pictures becomes more problematic when one or more pictures are to be hung on the same wall. The basic problem is that most people find it highly desirable that pictures of equal size hung on the same wall have top and bottom edges which are at the same height. Similar problems arise when it is desired to vertically center a picture between two horizontal surfaces, such as a table top or a mantle top and the ceiling. Also, it is often desired to hang a vertical column of pictures on a single wall, and to be able to have the inter-picture spacing between the top edge of one picture and the bottom edge of the picture above it equal for the entire column.
As both professional and amateur picture hangers know, provision of the basic apparatus for hanging a picture is simple but adjusting the length of the wire on the back of the picture in order to assure that it is hung in the desired location can be quite tedious and troublesome. Anyone who has spent time unwrapping and rewrapping wire around screw eyes, placing multiple holes in a wall in attempting to move the location of picture hooks or the like, is familiar with this problem.
The problem becomes exacerbated as the weight of the picture to be hung increases since heavier gauge wire, which is more difficult to repeatedly tie and untie, must be used. Also, in the case of heavier pictures, repeated placement of a nail for holding a picture hook in the same general vicinity of a wall can severely weaken the wall, particularly if the nail holding the hook is not penetrating a wall stud.
The above-recited problems with accurate vertical placement of pictures are relatively ancient and a large number of devices have been invented in the past to provide ready adjustability of the length of the picture wire so that a corresponding adjustment in the height at which a picture hangs from a picture hook of predetermined vertical location can be made. Some arrangements have provided a plurality of notches in the hanging apparatus so that incremental, but discrete, steps of vertical adjustment may be effected.
Other clamping and adjusting devices have been used which provide for continuous fine adjustment so that virtually any length of picture wire may be achieved.
For the latter class of devices, a basic trade-off has been present in the prior art. The trade-off has normally been that the greater the ease of adjustment, the less strength the connection at the point of adjustment has under tension on the wire. Thus, many prior art devices for adjusting the length of the mechanical wire connection have been the weakest point physically in the support structure when the wire is placed under tension due to the weight of picture. These devices have tended to slip if used with a picture which is too heavy, even though the wire to which the device is connected may be adequate to hold the picture. Also, these devices cost several dollars per frame.
Another problem encountered during repeated small adjustments of the length of picture wire arises from the fact that most picture wire in use in the past century has been braided metallic wire. While there are known ways of wrapping the ends of braided metallic picture wire so that they do not become frayed, these tend to be permanent connections. Thus, during the process of attempting to accurately adjust the length of the picture wire so that the picture will hang at a desired height, the ends often become frayed. This produces painful and annoying punctures in the fingers of the user. The obvious solution of wearing gloves during the adjustment process is not practical and can make it quite difficult to manipulate the wire.
While people have also used various forms of cable clamps to effect an adjustable length of picture wire, the adjusting steps using cable clamps require that some form of tool, usually a wrench, be used to loosen, and subsequently tighten, the clamp. While cable clamps overcome the above noted drawbacks of many prior art devices in that they do not tend to slip (if secured tightly enough to the wire), their adjustment is relatively cumbersome as compared to friction holding devices.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a simple and inexpensive device which may be attached to the picture wire without tools or hardware and may be readily adjusted without the use of tools to effect the adjustment. There is a need for a device which will not slip under the load tension of the wire, which fits all sizes of braided picture wire commonly used in the industry, of a size that will accommodate picture sizes from small to very large yet be completely unobtrusive when the picture is hung, and which also helps alleviate the problem of pricked fingers from frayed wire ends during the handling and adjustment process.